Ellis even better than Orgeron remembers

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Larry Weisman

METAIRIE, La. -- Their paths first crossed in Chino, Calif. Ed Orgeron was the recruiting coordinator for Southern California, and he liked this young defensive tackle named Sedrick Ellis, who also played offensive line and was a shot-putter on the track team.

"He was a little undersized," Orgeron recollects on the New Orleans Saints steamy practice field. "He had tremendous get-off. He wasn't like a five-star recruit, but there were a lot of things we liked."

Ellis enjoyed meeting the peppery Orgeron and opted to play at Southern California, but there were reasons other than the recruiting pitch.

"I don't think it was so much him that convinced me to go there. SC is a great place, and they have great coaching and always have," says Ellis, the...